Guardsmen On Call For Their Country

They are the modern Minutemen -- salesmen, shopkeepers, doctors and lawyers ready to fight at a moment's notice.

They train one weekend each month and two weeks each spring, maintaining their fighting edge through repetitious practice -- trudging through

mud or brush, dining on C-rations, sleeping on the ground and climbing aboard helicopters to stage mock assaults while firing live ammunition.

Officially known as the 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry of the Florida National Guard, they call themselves the Seminole Battalion.

''I wouldn't hesitate to take this unit into combat,'' said Lt. Col. Ron Harrison, the battalion commander.

In civilian life, Harrison is a leasing manager for Jaymont Realty Inc., Orlando.

If called to fight, the battalion could serve anywhere in the world. It also is prepared to serve on the home front and saw duty during the Liberty City riots in Miami, the truckers strike in 1981 and the wildfires that swept across parts of parched Florida this spring.

There are 700 of the civilian soldiers in the Central Florida detachment, which operates from bases in Orlando, Eustis, Sanford and Leesburg. The battalion's headquarters is at its Fern Creek Avenue armory in Orlando.

Unlike the regular armed services or reserves, the National Guard's primary role is domestic. At the call of the governor, the guard can respond overnight to many emergencies in Florida, such as floods and civil disturbances.

The guard also acts as an Army Reserve unit. The Seminole Battalion could be ready for battle in 30 days, Harrison said.

''Everything we do is geared toward combat readiness,'' Harrison said. He said the battalion could be called to serve in a hot spot such as the Middle East or in a war.

The men of the Seminole Battalion range from 18 to 55 years old, although most are in their 20s. Five percent of them are veterans of the Vietnam War.

The guardsmen, like Army recruits, go through eight weeks of physical conditioning and marksmanship in basic training at Fort Benning, Ga. or Fort Jackson, S.C. After that, many also go through eight to 12 weeks of schooling to learn a military skill.

What makes them volunteer for a grind that takes so much of their spare time?

Pay and benefits are a factor. Guardsmen take home from $80 to $200 per training weekend. They also qualify for military pensions and educational benefits.

Patriotism and a desire to break the monotony of civilian jobs also play a role.

''I think everybody ought to do something to serve their country,'' said Rick Lewis, a captain and battalion intelligence officer who has been in the guard 16 years.

''That may sound a little hokey, but that's the way I feel,'' said Lewis, owner of Lewis-Cobb Exterminating Co. Inc., Orlando.

''My country's done a lot for me,'' said Owen Regans, a power theft investigator for Florida Power Corp. ''This is my way of paying it back.''

Regans is a staff sergeant and assistant intelligence officer who has been a guardsman seven years.

''Sure, you get tired and dirty and thirsty, but so does everybody else,'' said Harold Plessner, a physician's assistant from Altamonte Springs.

''We wouldn't be out there unless we wanted to be,'' he said. Plessner, the battalion's chief medical officer, said being in the guard lets him use medical skills that he could not use in his regular job. Plessner spent two years on active duty in the Navy and four years in the Navy Reserve.

The Seminole Battalion consists of three rifle companies, each with riflemen, machine gunners and mortar crews, and a support company with scouts, heavy mortar and antitank crews.

Every April, the guardsmen spend two weeks in military exercises. In April 1984 the battalion trained with the 193rd Army Brigade at Fort Clayton in Panama City, Panama.

In a letter to Harrison, Brig. Gen. Fred Warner of the 193rd called the battalion the best National Guard unit he had seen. Warner, who has worked with other guard units from Florida and Puerto Rico, cited the Seminole Battalion's outstanding professionalism and morale.

The battalion consistently has received high ratings from the Army Reserve's 2nd Maneuver Training Command, which evaluates Army, Army Reserve and National Guard units.

Sgt. 1st Class Mike Collis was named the Non-Commissioned Officer of the year for the 2nd Army on July 21. Collis, a full-time guardsman, is the training NCO for the Seminole Battalion's Orlando company.